"So it's not really gunpowder?" Ruby whispered, examining the metal cartridges on the kitchen table.
"More of a powder accelerant," Kay answered, playing with one of the five bullets the police captain had given them. "Actual gunpowder has been out of use for years, but this is definitely still enough for a small explosion."
"So that's the Burn and explosion part of the recreation acquired," Weiss nodded. "We have both myself and Winter for the Gravity glyph."
"All we need is Spark," Ozpin finished for the group. "And the Grimmdusk component."
"What would be considered concentrated negativity?" Kay asked. "The Spark we can at least try to experiment with."
"Yo, this board game of yours is super complex!" Roman yelled from the living room.
"It's like Catan but worse!" Kay yelled back. Winter raised an eyebrow at his reply. Kay simply shrugged. They had to keep the cover somehow, right? "The first thing that comes to mind for concentrating negativity is like… a seance circle or imbibing one of those dumb crystals."
"Crystals?" Weiss repeated.
"Not like Dust," Kay shook his head. "Just.. pretty little rocks that some believe hold mystical powers."
"From your tone, I'm assuming they don't." Winter said.
"Some people use it for sex," Heads snapped over to the farmboy, as Oscar was the one to point that particular fact out, having apparently looked it up on his team's iTouch. The poor teenager's eye's widened as he realized everyone had stopped what they were doing and were staring at him. "Did I say that out loud?"
"You are… grounded." Kay said carefully.
"I am literally sixteen years old!" Oscar rebutted.
"Nora!"
At Kay's call, the redhead dragged Oscar over to the living room with Roman and Jaune. They, along with Yang, were making sure to mask the noise and talk in the house as a raucous game night. Nora dragged the pouting Oscar down to sit on the carpet.
"Concentrated negativity," Kay continued. "It's safe to say that crystals and other superstitious rituals won't work."
"Emotion does not have as much power as it did back home," Winter added. "Some fanatics have attempted to draw in Grimm through sacrificial means, usually disguised as a seance to commune with the departed."
"I've heard of this sort of thing happening a lot on the frontier," Ren nodded. "Nora and I had some unfortunate encounters with a few towns with that issue."
"Many people who feel down on their luck and try to seek their own ways out," Winter nodded somberly. "It's not too uncommon for the more extreme cases."
"That sounds familiar," Kay muttered under his breath. He didn't notice Blake's feline ears twitch beside him. She watched as their host wiped a hand down his tired visage. She watched his glance at the clock on the living room wall before asking the group. "I'm gonna get dinner. Roman, you mind keeping an eye out for me?"
"Got it!" Roman answered back with a thumbs up as the homeowner collected his jacket and left the house, with a prepared Winter in tow. A quick glance was exchanged between the two, a silent agreement, before they left the house.
"Interesting," Yang noted. "That didn't look suspicious at all."
"It's better to have two pairs of hands to retrieve our dinner," Weiss replied, though it came out less confidently than she liked. "You're reaching again."
"I mean, at least she'll be there just in case the guys in suits try to do something fishy," Ruby noted.
"That's… surprisingly anarchic thinking coming from you, Ruby." Blake said, eyebrows raised.
"Besides, when else are they gonna get any alone time?"
"RUBY!" Weiss scolded.
"Did you have any reason to ask me along?" Winter asked as Kay drove. The mid-winter sky was already darkening as the two made their way into town.
"I appreciate an experienced extra pair of eyes," Kay answered quickly. "That's all. Besides, that one blue sedan has been trailing us for a while now."
"I noticed it right after we turned off our street," Winter added. "And as we made several random turns."
"Definitely the Feds," Kay summed up."What're you feeling up for?"
"I wouldn't mind something a little unhealthy tonight," Winter admitted. "Planning to explode ourselves in order to get home is quite stressful to say the least."
"I'll say," Kay scoffed before the sound of the car's engine filled the moment. Suddenly, the blaring of a police siren cut through the serene atmosphere. Winter turned to look through the rear window while Kay glanced at the rearview mirror. "The hell? I'm literally going five less than the limit!"
"It's Victor!" Winter managed as Kay slowly brought the car to a stop on the side of the freeway. The police car stopped right behind them and Kay let out a sigh of relief as the town's police captain emerged from the car. Kay retrieved his license from his wallet and quickly reached over to Winter's side to open the glove compartment and get his car registration. He quickly brought his window down to speak to the police captain.
"Hey, Cap," Kay greeted "Something wrong?"
"Can't have my daughter's favorite professor being followed, now can I?" The police captain jokingly asked. He leaned in and saw the other passenger in the car. "And a good evening to you as well, Miss Winter."
"Hello Captain," Winter greeted back.
"You saw the car following us?" Kay asked.
"Blue sedan, couple of suits sat in it?" Victor asked. Kay nodded. "You happen to know why that may be?"
"I'm under watch during an investigation," Kay shrugged. "I'm a notable witness so they're just keeping on my trail."
"I see," Captain Victor nodded, looking back to see the road. Winter could just make out the blue car had parked about a block away from them. "Should I intervene?"
"I think it's best you didn't," Kay shook his head. "I appreciate the concern though."
"If you say so," Victor sighed. "Just making sure the good couple doesn't have their night spoiled, is all."
Victor quickly departed, though not before winking and laughing that Kay's stupefied expression. Silence reigned as Kay turned the keys and began driving again. It wasn't until they arrived at the McDonalds that Kay decided to speak up.
"What exactly did you tell Victor to convince him to give us some of his bullets?" He asked.
"I…" Winter sighed. "I simply said it would mean a lot to both you and I that Oscar were given a little assistance for the project. I may have… embellished a bit to appeal to the captain's emotional side, though he may have misinterpreted it."
"Oh, good," Kay snarked. "As if Yang didn't joke about it enough already."
"Can we please just get dinner?" Winter rolled her eyes. Kay chuckled at her exasperation and allied for both of them to exit the car. Ordering for the group was a simple affair, leaving the two to sit patiently in an open booth.
"How was therapy this morning?" Winter asked.
"Good," Kay answered. "Told her that despite the stresses going on, I'm in good company. The positives have overpowered the negatives."
"That's kind of you to say," Winter smiled at that last note. "Though it does get quite loud at times."
"Eh," Kay shrugged. "It's nice to let youth enjoy life, especially after that war y'all have been through. You guys fought and lost enough to deserve this little vacation away from all that."
"Vacation?" Winter repeated.
"Not the nicest way to put it, I know," Kay admitted. "But there's no Grimm, no rogue Hunters to deal with."
"It's interesting for you to see this so positively." Winter said, eyebrows raised.
"Well it's only good because it's temporary." Kay laughed at Winter's confused reaction. "It's the rule of the tourist; a place is only nice if you're visiting, but hell if you live there."
"You say that like you know that from experience." Winter noted.
"I lived in Manhattan for a good while," Kay said. "Tourists love to romanticize a place that is usually avoided by the people living there."
"Atlas was very much the same," Winter nodded. "Everyone that visits marvels at the technology, but everyone that lives there is much more aware of the issues underneath it all."
"It's also really nice to see everyone being happy and smiling at home," Kay added softly. "Even the show, which apparently sugar coated a lot of things that happened, had a bunch of pretty harrowing events. I don't know how those kids were able to cope with it."
"It's the culture of Huntsmen and Huntress," Winter was able to easily supply the answer. "We are to be prepared for anything, especially the loss of friends and family. It's simply a fact of life on Remnant."
"Hm," Kay seemed to accept that. Winter observed the man's face as he absorbed the answer. He had a glimpse of life as a soldier, yet was lucky enough to never experience. He even spoke out against social issues and sounded passionate about wanting change.
"Kay," Winter broke the silence, catching the man's attention. "Would you ever consider taking a position in local government? You're quite passionate about reform and social patterns."
"I've thought of it, really." Kay answered. "But politics and genuinely good people don't mix too well. I'm content with educating the next generation and giving them nice stories to read."
Winter laughed lightly at Kay's answer, as though she expected it. It wasn't long after that their order number was called and they made their way home. The drive was a quiet affair, though they did make sure to check on the trailing agents behind them. Finally arriving at home, Kay and Winter unloaded to McDonalds and let the kids and Roman dig in.
Ruby watched as Kay spoke animatedly to Winter for the majority of the dinner, despite the entire group making jokes and chatting amongst each other about the game or books they read during the day, or even Nora's outlandish proposals to return home with the power of video games.
Weiss watched as her older sister responded to Kay's enthusiasm in kind with what looked like her usual professional demeanor. Upon closer inspection, she noted the small yet very genuine smile on Winter's face as she asked Kay another question about something having to do with the local college.
Ruby's silver eyes met Weiss's light blue over the discarded burger wrappings and napkins. The team captain winked at her partner. The middle Schnee rolled her eyes and simply returned her gaze to the writer and Specialist.
Yang pretended to pay no mind, but had no regrets that she was sat opposite Kay and Winter, soaking in the fruits of her constant jokes. Heh, Weiss would be insufferable but it would all be worth it. She made eye contact with Roman, who also noticed, and the editor gave her a thumbs up.
Blake looked up from dual wielding her fish sandwich and Kay's new manuscript, gave a subtle nod in acceptance of the events, and returned to minding her business, as she should.
In Oscar's mind however, Ozpin had grown a little bit doubtful at this little development. Attachment would make their leaving hurt even more. Perhaps he should say something to Kay.
. . . . .
"So this is it?" Roman asked, eyes closed and hands steepled in his lap. A small,booklet of papers sat on the desk, next to Kay's head. "That's all you 've got for the poetry submission?"
"Yeah," Kay muttered, slightly muffled by the wooden table. "I… may have burned out a bit."
"You burned out?" Roman asked. "I can't say I'm surprised, to be honest with you. With everything going on, I'm more than impressed that you managed to get a mini-chaplet together."
"I… also got sidetracked," Kay admitted, finally peeling his face off of his desk and sitting back properly.
"Oooh," Roman cracked a smile. "That usually means something good!"
"I asked our resident romance fan to check this piece out when I started it," Kay slide over a completely different manuscript to his editor. "I wrote a ton of this over the last… three nights."
"That's like a whole world record in your book," Roman complimented as he finally took the new manuscript and started to skim the first page. His eyes narrowed as certain words caught his eye. "I'm on the first page and this reads as a slow-burn romance."
"Yup," Kay confirmed.
"And you said Blake okayed this?"
"Yup."
"You let Blake look over your slow-burn romance script?"
"Yup."
"You are so lucky you're a damn good writer, Kay." Roman sighed as he kept scanning. A few more minutes past before he closed the booklet and rose from his seat. "It looks promising, but I gotta take a full look at it at home. At this rate, based on quality alone, scrapping the poems for now would be best."
"Sure, do your thing." Kay replied, stretching his arms above his head. The two best friends said their farewells as business came to an end, and Roman left for the evening. Kay typed away in relative silence before someone knocked on his door. Glancing at his laptop's clock, he saw it was only 10 PM. "Come in!"
"Good evening, Kay," Weiss greeted softly as she entered his office. Other than Blake and Oscar, she was the only other one to spend a lot of time reading in the office. "How did the manuscript evaluation go?"
"I decided to scrap the poetry idea and go with another idea." Kay answered with a wry smile. "A short form novel that should definitely help me recover after you've gone."
"I see," Weiss let the implication of his last statement hang in the air. "What is the new project about?"
"It's a romance," Kay continued typing. "Almost a sort of forbidden love sort of thing."
"Was this… inspired by anything recent?" Weiss asked carefully. Kay tried to place her tone, but continued to focus on his writing.
"Not really," Kay shrugged. "I've written short romance stories before and they were received well. My little fanclub back at the college should enjoy it, so why not?"
"Mmm," Weiss's tone was once again unplaceable, but the heiress began to continue asking about the story in progress, distracting Kay once more.
"What?" Winter asked. Ruby had decided to confront the elder Schnee as she was preparing for bed. The group had decided to wind down with a nice animated film about superheroes that Kay called, "The Incredibles," which was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. "I'm sorry, I didn't understand your question."
"It's kind of simple, I think." Ruby shrugged, faux-absentmindedly. "What do you think of Kay?"
"Again, what?" Winter blinked. "If this is more teasing at your sister's request, I shall make sure to punish her for you. I'm sure Kay wouldn't mind if I ran you all through a PT course through all of Glen Plains. He's a generous person who is much too courteous for any of us to be bothering him with such silliness."
"I think the same way, totally," Ruby nodded, helping Winter to spread her bedsheet over the couch. "He's really nice, and cool, and funny!"
"Then I don't see the urgency of your original question, Ruby." Winter stated.
"He doesn't talk as passionately with us like he does with you." Ruby shrugged. "I mean, Blake and Weiss like to talk about his books and his writing, Yang and Nora on his video games and movies, Jaune and Ren on cooking and cleaning. You ask him the most about him."
"And Ozpin?" Winter asked, unmoved.
"He and Oscar have been researching nonstop the last few days," Ruby answered. "They've only talked to him about the way home."
"Once again, Ruby," Winter sighed, rolling her eyes. "You are drawing too much from my dear sister's teasing. Pay it no mind."
"I don't, I just noticed it a lot lately." Ruby smiled innocently. "Haven't you?"
Silence grew between the pair as the reaper's question hung in the air. The team leader glanced up to see that Winter's gaze snapped over to Kay's door, soft laughter echoing from beyond it. Weiss had entered the room earlier, as the two of them had planned. It sort of warmed Ruby's heart to see that Weiss wasn't as opposed to the idea as she seemed.
"Good night, Winter," Ruby ended the silence and made her way to her RWBY's bedroom.
"You as well, Ruby." Winter replied, softly, resuming preparing for bed. As the Specialists lay down on the couch, those accursed words she said to the police captain echoed in her head. She turned away from the black television screen and looked up at the ceiling and sighed. She finally closed her eyes and said a hushed prayer to whoever out there would listen. "Please let us go home soon, I don't know how we're going to take it if we end up staying here longer."
Heyo, Kariotic here!
Sorry for the long wait. My road to recovery has been rather difficult, and still working full-time simultaneously has been extremely draining. However, the busy season is starting to die down, and I have one last procedure that should bring back to almost 100%!
Don't worry, I am still working on this story. It's just taking a while because each chapter literally comes off the top of my head. As such, it literally runs on motivation and personal creative energy, which has been pretty low as of late. BUT! I plan on making sure this story is done right. If I stay motivated enough, it should be finished before the end of the year, but I can't promise that right now. I will absolutely try my best, though!
Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. If you feel so inclined, leave a comment/review! I'm constantly reading them and it gives me a little boost when I'm writing.
See you next time!